Door Selection

Saturday March 29, 2008

10:00am Saturday we had to meet the Builder at a Lumber Yard. In our city, there are two of these places, the one 10 minutes from our house, and the one we met the builder at which is about 30 minutes or more away.

The funniest part of the whole day was that we were late so we sent him for a coffee, only he discovered too late that his wife had cleaned out his wallet and he could only scrabble around for spare change in his truck to buy Lianne a coffee!

We looked at some doors - Lianne had a vision for glass doors upstairs in the house which was quickly defeated. She's ok with that since the door they did pick out was an excellent price & looks good too. It sounds painless but it wasn't. I think at least three times Lianne had to glare at the Builder while he spoke incessantly & as usual, insulted us. Once she even held up her hand and all I could think was 'talk to the hand'...the doors (all 20 of 'em) look a bit like this:


Next up was the casings & baseboard. Although there is an infinite choice ...it was limited for us because of material. It's not the Taj Mahal after all that we are building here so paint-grade pine was just the thing. Two minutes later and that task was done. Here is Lianne perusing the many, many options.




After the builder left we spend another good hour going through the whole store. They have great stuff.

Master Bath Mosaic

March 28, 2008

Here is Leandro tiling the mosaic 'river rock' that we chose for an inset in our master bathroom floor. Although it looks like he is doing pebble by pebble, they actually do come in sheets! However, the sheets are not square so he did need to do some adjusting with individual pebbles.

Here it is 75% complete










And Voila! A masterpiece!

Here is the part under the toilet











And the master shower walls & floor and bath tub surround

heating systems go in for upstairs baths

March 27, 2008

Needing another layer of 'scratch coat' meant the under-tile heating system couldn't be laid until this past Tuesday. Lewis and Andreas worked on them Tuesday and Wednesday and then the tiling continued.











Above: guest bath heat & tile
Left: Master bath heat (looking out from inside the shower)!

Tiling continues incorrectly in the basement bath

March 26, 2008

Leandro the tile guy went ahead with the basement bathroom shower. Too bad he didn't read the tile layout instructions quite correctly.

There are 2 rows of the glass blue in this picture...but there are supposed to be three!


Turns out he's been tiling for 12 years...and can fix a mistake just as easily as he makes it!




Floor shots of the shower floor and the downstairs laundry floor.

Warm Tiles DIY Installation

Sunday March 23, 2008

Andreas and I went to the house on Sunday afternoon with a planned installation of 3 sets of electrical under-tile heating systems. We had previously requested the scratch-coats to be completed for this installation.

We show up and those omni-present drywall taper guys are sanding away but they quickly left. Perhaps they only do a half day on Sundays...or they don't like working when the homeowners are around!

Anyway, first thing we notice is that the scratch-coat (only on the upper 2 bathrooms) is not quite a thick as we would have wanted. There goes our plan to install the heating systems!

Turns out that it is a blessing in disguise. The basement system took us several hours to install and it was enough for one day.

Here is the view down basement hall from the rec room - bathroom on the left with the instructions stapled up!


Ta-daaa Here is the finished installed heating system. Andreas took the picture standing in the shower....Looks fairly easy, huh.

Inside shots - some tiles are laid already!

Saturday March 22, 2008

Friday was Good Friday (earliest ever Easter that I can remember!) and Lianne met Marat over at the house first thing in the morning. She is nice enough to bring coffee so they all love her.

Lianne gave Marat/the tiler Leandro some sketches for tiles to be laid in the downstairs bathroom shower and also showed which tiles are to go in the upstairs laundry, downstairs laundry, front hall and powder room on the main floor. She also checked to make sure that there was a 'scratch coat' laid over the wire mesh in the 2 upstairs bathrooms in preparation for us to install the under-tile heating system. Our builder did not want to do it so we said sure we'll do it.

With all the mess happening at the house, with the drywall people and tile people, it's looking like a wreck in there. However, here are some shots of the inside as well as some tile that is complete already!

Master Bath Shower waiting for tile and the skylight/upstairs hall




View from back of house to front...piles of giant tubs of stucco paint, tiles, tiling tools, bags of mortar, drywall tools, drywall compound...and a very long ladder.










A kitchen space Lianne is trying really hard to imagine as complete!








Here is the basement rec room - the fireplace and the opposite wall. We will probably build in some book cases on either side of the fireplace and above it of course, the new flatscreen!










Last, but not least, tiles laid in the front hall (copper slate) and the Powder room (moccachino limestone)

Creepy Night Visit after delivery of tiles

Wednesday March 19th, 2008

Tiles showed up today (were due yesterday) but I couldn't get over to check out the boxes until after 9:00pm. Even though it's dark out I do know there is one trouble light at the house.

Now, Andreas is away and there is a spare key hidden at the house that I just use on the rare occasion that I am there without him. This has worked well so far, until this one evening.

I fumbled around in the dim light of the street lamps, trying to find the key. I am getting frustrated and irritated (happens very easily these days!).

Then I hear some thumping and bumping and I suddenly realize that there are people in the house...my immediate reaction is to pound on the door. Seems perhaps not the most wise, considering I am small, single woman standing outside of a construction site in the dark...however when the door is not immediately opened I just keep on banging.

Eventually the door is opened by, of all people, one of the drywall-mudders. He looks at me expectantly and says 'jes?'. I say, indignantly, "My house" and he says "oh, come een". He is another trade of good skill, little english.

I am thinking to myself, hell yes 'come een', this is MY damn house! However, I just step in and ask him why they are there so late and he says that he had no choice, the scaffold for him to work on the skylight was delivered late and also it's better to sand the skylight at night when there is no sun shining through it. At least that is what I think he said.

I proceed to poke around at the boxes of tiles but since the one light in the house is in use by these guys it's a fairly useless exercise. Then I also realize that he has not gone back to work, but rather is just standing at the bottom of the stairs watching me. Creepily. Uh, not my ideal evening so I decide to check back later and I skedaddle out of there.

Turns out even if they hadn't been there, I may not have been able to get in since the key has been moved. For good reason, apparently trades have been known to come back after their work is done and 'help themselves'.



Some tiles for the front hall; powder room and downstairs bath (above).
Master bath tiles (below).



Main bath tiles - floor and shower


Mosaic inlay for the Master Bath

Stair Railing and Spindles (pickets) whatever you call them

Saturday March 15th, 2008

Lianne was away for the weekend but just before Andreas also went away for the week the oak stair railings arrived. Gorgeous!





















Of course, within a day the drywall mud had been dropped on the railing so we had to *remind* our builder to cover them up!

Safety Guy STOPS again

As I am driving home from Ottawa on Monday...down the 401, I get this 'urgent' call from the next door neighbour.

She had tried to track down Andreas but wasn't able to reach him. I pull over at a rest stop as she is going on and on.

The gist of the 40 minute conversation was that the Ministry of Labour : Workplace Safety inspector had come by the house again. Since the stucco scaffolding had not changed or moved; he ordered a STOP in the work and for the scaffoldign to be taken down immediately. The inside was all ok from a safety perspective so no stopping there!

The guy also tells my neighbour that the stucco people have bolted their scaffolding to her roof and it will be completely ruined...she of course panics and calls Andreas...but then has to track me down. Andreas is away in Utah at the moment. He also says that the scaffolding needs an engineer to review her house to see if it will hold. that just means MORE delay and MORE cost.

In the mean time he also decides that he is a building inspector as well and starts to tell my neighbour that our eaves are hanging way too far over the lot line and therefore over her roof; he also says that her chimney will smoke into our attic. He speaks to her as if we are the worst neighbours and that we obviously must be breaking all the building codes secretly behind her back, rendering her property worthless. Needless to say she gets a little worked up about the whole thing.

The only thing I could do was say, look the safety of the site is my builder's responsibility and the building code is the building inspector's responsibility. ...at this point I am thinking to myself, well, the building inspector has been at the house for several inspections already and didn't seem to even mention the eaves....but I gave her the name of the building inspector so she could call the City and see what they say.

I eventually got off the phone and once back in town I stopped at the house. Thank goodness we started off with a good relationship and that she is a realist!

I got the whole story again while watching the stucco people take down all their scaffolding. Still haven't heard anything from the builder as to when OUR stucco will get completed.

She asked to come into the house to see where the scaffolding was bolted in. I said of course, any time! Anyway, we looked at it for a few minutes out the side bedroom window and really even she shrugged and couldn't figure out what the heck that safety inspector was talking about. There was maybe 4 screws anchoring some of the scaffold onto her roof. We had spoken to her months ago about needing her roof and she was ok with it, and now after looking she is still ok with it since the safety guys seems to have blown it out of proportion.

But, she still wants to call the City about the eaves; apparently she did already but they didn't do anything about it. I tell her to please go ahead but I am not sure what I can do at this point considering the city stamped the plans and have inspected the house several times. She just walked away grumbling about the stupid City!

Glorp

Drywall taping and mudding ...they work quickly but manage to glorp it on everywhere.

One of the guys working...




Here is Lianne checking out the mud in her future kitchen




I think this WAS an electrical outlet...

We have TILES, Tape and a missing vent

Wednesday March 12, 2008

Andreas went in the middle of the day with the builder to buy tiles. Only one set, for the master shower floor, I was not thrilled with. Andreas got a hold of a woman at the tile store to help find a suitable replacement. Essentially the same tile, just in a better matching shade.

Next on the list was the grout, and Andreas and builder went around with the same poor woman to match up grout. After hearing the story I am fairly confident that it will all look good, except maybe the main front hall. The colour of grout didn't sound quite right but I guess we'll see!

$2700 later and the tile is ordered for delivery next Tuesday. Lucky for us that included a 'contractor discount' of an average of 40% so that was good. Builder also asks for MORE money, but since I've been nagging Andreas so much to not pay on the spot every time, he actually held his ground & said look, we just paid you a chunk 5 days ago, I just put out a chunk for these tiles and you will not get any more money until I get back from my business trip! (after easter)

I was so proud.

Later that evening, Andreas went by the house (in the dark), but fortunately there is always one trouble-light on premises . Turns out the drywall tapers/mudders (mud, tape, whatever) have already started! Then he notices that there is a missing heat vent in the downstairs bedroom. I happen to specifically remember there being one in the ceiling but it looks like the drywall- hanging guys just forgot to cut it out. We wondered what other outlets, switchboxes, vents etc are drywalled over?! (Hopefully the electrician will remember if we're missing anything).

Midnight last night we are combing through our hundreds of pictures to try and find one of that particular vent and wouldn't you know we miss it out on every shot!

Andreas also checks the HVAC drawings and there is actually supposed to be TWO vents in that room so he lets the builder know and the builder just says ok, he'll take care of it. The next day the HVAC guys come in and, working from a hole in the subfloor above (ie the living room) snake in a vent to heat the room.

Cool icicles & Updated Outside

One sunshiney-day last week I snapped these shots of the icicles hanging down the side of the house.




Here is also an updated picture of the outside of the house

and START work again

We are not sure what is the deal with the Stucco scaffolding, however Builder got a pass for the inside work to continue and voila, we now have a completely drywalled house.

I am over there right at 6:00pm with Andreas to check it out and of course, to pull out my measuring tape. Now that the drywall is on, I can accurately measure for my fabulous IKEA kitchen.

Of course, I discover that it's not quite as big as I expected. Back to the drawing board.

We also have had word that our kitchen appliances are in, and waiting patiently for us in the warehouse! yay bluestar stove!

and now for the STOP work order

Monday March 10, 2008

Someone, somewhere, has it in for us. We are not sure now if it is the Building Inspector (most likely candidate) or perhaps a neighbour. Today, the Safety Inspector showed up and put an immediate stop to all work. There were 2 infractions - the Stucco guys outside and their scaffolding and ironically the temporary stair railing. We are not worried - it had just been removed last week to accomodate moving around those 12' drywall sheets. In the middle of the day on Monday the drywallers only had 1/2 the main floor left but the Safety Inspector said stop immediately.

Builder says it's odd the Safety Inspector came by this late in the project. He wondered if next door neighbour had called but we doubt it because they usually complain to us personally first if they see an issue. Not sure what it's all about but Builder just needs to reinstall his temporary railing and call the guy back apparently.

More pictures of Drywall

Sunday shots of drywall



Why this is so interesting for me, I'll never know. But I had to share more drywall shots .

Here is the master bedroom

Here is the basement shower and the basement bedroom

Tile Selection - finalized! (maybe)

Sunday March 9, 2008

We ran around like usual on the weekend...Sunday was scheduled to meet up with the Builder at the Tile Store to buy the tiles for the house. He's really pushing things like they are just about ready to tile (which they aren't) but I am sure it's only to save face at this point.

We go through the tiles & it ends up that we had to change some of them out. I was a bit irritated by the process because the builder is a bull but he can't really express himself. He laughed at one of my selections and made comments like it was a poor choice but he can't express why. I think he's just being rude when really it eventually comes out that there is a valid reason - such as the pattern I want them laid requires a lot of cutting and this particular tile may not cut well. This I can understand. He also tends to think that unless you have a lot of money, you have no class. We happen to apparently be in the no-class category since he makes comments all the time about it.

Today's gem was that 'he sends his sophisticated clients to XYZ tile store' but clients like us he sends to the Tile Store we were at.

I've learned to roll my eyes internally and look at him sideways while insisting on what I want, and I know that some of his comments stem from nothing but laziness. The others are just plain rude.

Otherwise, he did make some suggestions on how to get the same look on less money - not phrased very well, but it's ok, it's all in the interest of saving money. We also picked our banister & stair pickets in like 5 minutes in the parking lot. Had lunch at Wendy's next door to wrap our heads around the 'new' tile list and then back to the tile store to review the choices & swap out the samples.

I have to look at them for a couple of days then we'll go back with the builder and order them all up. After that we went to Lowes (yet again!) and we spent some time looking at carpet for Elmsdale basement...after that we were really tired but wanted to see the progress of the drywall at the house Elmsdale so we stopped of there for a few minutes.

Francois and Carole - Drywall Hangers Extraordinaire

Saturday March 8, 2008

Coming up to one week prior to our original completion date and the drywall hanging is moving along. Since it was Saturday, we went to the house late morning.

The drywall guys "Frank" and "Carole" were working away in the basement and we watched for a bit, I am amazed at the speed they go. They told us they had been doing this for some 12 years so they are very efficient!

Carole with the zip cutter - thingy that cuts out light boxes


Frank here posing with Carole and a big smile after we brought them Tim Horton's Coffee


Basement fireplace (behind that piece of triangular drywall!)


Sadly, we also saw that they had drywalled over the basement door that was the entrance/exit and the 'back walk out" of great contention.

Installation of Drywall has Started!

Thursday March 6, 2008

The day the drywall started! Andreas was over in the middle of the day so he saw it in action. I also got to see, but it was later in the day. Amazing how a little drywall can transform a space!
The stairs, partly done.

The upstairs hall (looking towards back of house) - stairwell on left; middle bedroom on right.



The master bedroom ceiling


and the stairwell - looking up towards skylight (the pink insulation in picture is edge of skylight)